Jacob Grimmer

Van Lerius collection, Antwerp, 1883;
With Galerie de Jonckheere, Biennale des Antiquaires, Paris, 1988;
Acquired from the above by the parents of the present owners.

Probably:
F.J. van den Branden, Geschiedenis der antwerpsche Schilderschool, Antwerp 1883, p. 229;
H. Hymans, Le Livre des Peintres de Carel van Mander, Paris 1884–85, pp. 12 and 243;
Z. von Manteuffel in Thieme-Becker, Lexikon der bildenden Künstler, Leipzig, 1922, p. 51.

The picture is made up of three horizontal panels, stabilised at the joins by butterfly staples and wooden nodes. The upper and lower panels are slightly bowed. There is restoration to the joins on the verso and a two small flecks of missing paint on the far left of the upper join. The paint surface is dirty and the varnish is yellow. Overall the paint surface is in good condition with only some minor overall wear and loss of definition. Inspection under ultraviolet light shows retouching throughout the sky. There are small scattered touches of restoration visible in the buildings and in the grass to the left, but otherwise the thick varnish makes it difficult to detect any other work that has been carried out. Offered in a wooden frame with an inner band painted with gold decorative elements.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

As early as 1550 Jacob Grimmer was praised by Vasari as one of the best painters of landscapes of his time and Karel van Mander later said of him that he knew of no other artist 'more oustandingly skilled in landscapes'. With Pieter Brueghel the Elder he was amongst the first landscape painters to reject the highly imaginative and mannered landscapes of Joachim Patinir and his followers, with their scarcely believable geographical features, in favour of a realism to which all subsequent landscape painters through the 16th and 17th centuries would respond. His landscapes capture daily village life, with no artifice; they are simple and sincere representations of life in rural Flanders in the 16th century. This is a late example of his work, and prefigures the paintings of Pieter Brueghel the Younger who would dominate the field after Grimmer's death in 1590.  

Another version of this painting is illustrated and listed in the catalogue raisonné as being in a private collection.¹ It seems likely that Bertier de Sauvigny has confused the provenance, and possibly the literature of the two versions, for though she illustrates the other version, which differs substantially in the upper third, she lists provenance associated with the present version: an old, presumably 19th-century, label on the reverse states that the present work was in the possession of Albert Joh. van Lerius of Antwerp, provenance that is associated by Bertier de Sauvigny with the other version. The possibility that both versions are in fact one and the same painting should not be discounted; the Bertier de Sauvigny photograph would therefore show the work pre-restoration.

¹ R. de B. de Sauvigny, Jacob et Abel Grimmer: Catalogue Raisonné, Belgium 1991, reproduced p. 72, reproduced fig. 18.